College Station Named Sixth Most Affordable College Town in America

Fortunes sure have a way of changing. Just a few years ago, Texas A&M had a brutally awful football team in the Big 12 with their rivals, University of Texas, a team that was competing for titles seemingly every year. The Aggies were constantly playing second fiddle to their Austin adversaries. Then, things changed. A&M got Kevin Sumlin and Johnny Manziel. They made a move to the SEC where, despite the belief they would struggle, they flourished. Now, UT is mired in mediocrity, their beloved coach Mack Brown forced to retire and even the university president is being sent packing.

Well, here's one more thing to heap on the pile. College Station was just named the sixth most affordable college town in America by SimpleDollar.com. Take that T-Sips!

"What does this have to do with football?" you might ask. Well, son, this here is Texas and everything has to do with football, particularly when UT and A&M are involved. It's not quite the Auburn-Alabama poison your iconic tree intense, but it's close. So, any time one of them can show up the other, even if it is about cheap living expenses, they are going to do it.

The parameters included Texas A&M's consistent ranking as a good value in public colleges. In fact, it's average tuition costs are just over $5,200, more than $2,000 less than University of Houston and just over half the cost of a semester at UT. Additionally, College Station was recently named a "Great Underpriced College town" by U.S. News and World Reports and one of the "20 Best College Towns in America" by Forbes according to a press release from SimpleDollar.com.

The Simple Dollar.com team also found the average rent for a one-bedroom apartment in the city center is about $825. Costs lower dramatically for living just outside the city, with an average rent of a one-bedroom apartment being around $570. "Overall, College Station is 6 points below the national average cost-of-living," they report.

Impressive...if you want to live in College Station. I mean, no offense, but unless you are going to school there or working on campus, it's not exactly a livable destination. Still, when you are trying to work your way through college, that's a feather in the ol' cap for the maroon and white.

One note: They did get beat out by a UT on the list, in this case, University of Tennessee in Knoxville, but not the UT, which is why we're sure they will be dancing and drinking at the Dixie Chicken tonight...like every other night.

Jeff Balke is a writer, editor, photographer, tech expert and native Houstonian. He has written for a wide range of publications and co-authored the official 50th anniversary book for the Houston Rockets.